Clambake: the clam's ain't baked. Don't ask em why they call it that. The clams are steamed and served in the shell, with drawn butter to dip. A fire is built on top of stones in a hole in the sand and tended for hours. Then the embers are raked away, seaweed is laid down over the stones, metal latticework over the seaweed, then lobsters, chicken, sausage, potatoes, corn tossed on that. All covered by tarps, and sand over that. The whole pile steams ("bakes" I guess) for an hour, then it's revealed, which is what you see here; the tail end of gathering the food.
Monumental project; over 100 lobsters, for example. 3-day party. I did 10 gallons of lentil soup and two hams for Friday night, the clambake was Saturday, Sunday morning breakfast for 60... I been doing this for 3 years now. The hosts of the party are getting on in years. This clambake has been an annual event for 35 years now. As far as we know, it's the last big, private (as opposed to commercial) clambake on the Cape.
These events used to be one of the mainstays of Cape Cod social life, with entire communities hosting them at the beginning of Autumn.
Thanks for all the comments. I barely had time to edit an image and get it in. The dark halo on the gal's head is sloppy masking. The "distortion" is the natural result of 10mm lens, circular objects at the edge get elongated.
My favorite part of this is the foreground - looks delicious. The people seem as if they have been...stretched, or something - kind of "gumby-like" and flat to me.
There's something wrong in this image. The girl's face is distorted and maybe it's just due to the lens being so wide it's having barrel distortion. This image unfortunately does not appeal to me and that guy being cut off really is dostracting.
I really like the atmosphere created here - the red lobsters really add color and are softened nicely by the steam. The wide angle distortion is a little much for my taste but its still a nice candid shot.
The low wide angle viewpoint works esp. well here, but the dark edges (from editing?) around the people's heads is a bit strange looking. Comp could be stronger (the person cut in half on the right is a bit bothersome) and the lack of happy expressions doesn't exactly shout out the theme of celebration, but all in all a good effort. Exposure is excellent for a tough lighting situation~
neat angle for the shot. like the colors and the composition (with the claws up front and the people in the top third). makes me want to be a part of the fun! now where's the keg? : )
good color
i like the seperation from foreground to background
only odd bit isthe dark stripe in the hair of the women -- looks strange
well done otherwise ..
I like this very much. Great perspective. I like the way the smoke or steam puts a wee bit of distance between the seafood and the people. The woman's crouch adds anticipation.
i like this shot, although, what's the deal with the woman on the right? There seems to be dark tracing around her hair. Is this the result of editing out one of those outrageous clam hats?
Excellent photo. I love the way you chose to shoot this shot. The smoke in the center of the photo and the man with the bucket and lady with that hat is great. 10.
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